Thursday, March 8, 2007

How to read the Chinese Lunar Calendar

Do & Don't for the day
宜 Things best to do today.
忌 Things best NOT to do today.

How to read Lunar Double Hours & Good/Bad hours of the day

时辰Hours
子时2300 - 0100
丑时0100 - 0300
寅时0300 - 0500
卯时0500 - 0700
辰时0700 - 0900
巳时0900 - 1100
午时1100 - 1300
未时1300 - 1500
申时1500 - 1700
酉时1700 - 1900
戌时1900 - 2100
亥时2100 - 2300

吉 Good中 Mid凶 Bad

Zodiac that clashes today
For this case is "猪日冲蛇生年", which mean today is Pig day & those born in year of Snake clashes with it. Therefore, you have to be extra careful when doing things & try to avoid task like religious rites.

吉神方位 Location to pray & receive auspicious god today.
本日贵人时 The hours to pray & receive noble benefactor today.

How Lunar years are calculated (The Sexagenary Cycle)
An important aspect of the Chinese calendar is the sexagenary cycle (干支, gan zhi). This is a combination of the 10 heavenly stems (天干, tian gan), and the 12 earthly branches (地支, di zhi).

Stems天干Tian GanElementBranches地支Di ZhiAnimal
1jiaWood1ziRat
2yiWood2chouOx
3bingFire3yinTiger
4dingFire4maoRabbit
5wuEarth5chenDragon
6jiEarth6siSnake
7gengMetal7wuHorse
8xinMetal8weiGoat
9renWater9shenMonkey
10guiWater10youChicken
11xuDog
12haiPig

To explain how this cycle works, let us denote both the stems and the branches by their numbers. We denote 1 by (1,1) or (甲,子), 2 by (2,2) or (乙,丑) and so on up to (10,10) or (癸,酉). But now we have run out of stems, so we denote 11 by (1, 11) or (甲,戌) and 12 by (2, 12) or (乙,亥). Now we have run out of branches, too, so 13 becomes (3, 1) or (丙,子). We continue in this way through 6 cycles of stems and 5 cycles of branches up to 60, which is (10, 12) or (癸,亥). The next number is then (1,1) or (甲,子), which starts a new sexagenary cycle.

In Chinese calendar terminology:
Great Year = 12 years
Cycle = 5 Great Years = 60 years
Epoch = 60 Cycles = 3,600 years

Year 2007 is now in the Second Epoch, 18th Cycle, 24rd Year(丁,亥). By this method of counting, the Chinese Calendar is now in the Year 4704.

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